Posts tagged theft

Americans are still not getting the message about protecting their personal info, despite recent epic data breaches. Consumer Reports said that one in seven US residents, or about 45 million people, received some kind of notice that their personal data was compromised. Those stats reflect a lot of...

Everyone knows that smartphones are a hot target of thieves these days. They even have a special name for techniques used to snag iPhones from unsuspecting victims. But you know what nobody is stealing these days? Flip phones. Well, aside from the out-of-touch criminal who is still all about the M...

ATM thieves are increasingly focused on digital heists, but many of these robbers still prefer old-fashioned currency. They may want to think twice about stealing cash in the future, though, as ETH Zurich has developed a chemical defense system that both deters theft and helps track ill-gotten goo...

A Hawaiian man is expected to plead guilty to charges that he stole thousands of dollars to spend on the browser-based game Evony.
David Buchanan, 47, is charged with wire fraud after he convinced one woman to give him $40,000 for an investment that would see a promised 650% turnaround. "As a mi...

It may be easy to report and track stolen smartphones in the UK, but that's not preventing some of the country's shops from selling these ill-gotten handsets. A BBC undercover operation has revealed that at least eight stores in London are willing to buy stolen phones, even when the hardware is ob...

It's easy to understand the personal benefits of a potential kill switch requirement for cellphones; thieves would have less incentive to swipe your handset if they knew that it would become a brick. However, Creighton University professor William Duckworth has conducted a study suggesting that a ...

I mentioned last week that players throw their precious characters into the MMO meat grinder in the pursuit of higher levels, new achievements, or shinier gear. We gladly jump on the seemingly endless PvE treadmill, cranking up the speed with each new patch in an attempt to catch the dangling carro...

It's bad to rack up steep cellphone bills through your own actions, but it's even worse if a thief does that on your behalf. Thankfully, the UK government has struck a deal with EE, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone to cap bills on any cellphone reported lost or stolen after this spring. Brits on t...

US wireless industry group CTIA has announced that a stolen phone database launched last year by T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon is now final, including integration with international carriers. That'll let foreign operators block stolen US device activations, a bone of contention for law en...

EVE Online will soon let players steal valuable resources from each other, and not everyone is happy with it. The upcoming Rubicon expansion will add a new Siphon Unit structure that can literally siphon off materials from a starbase's moon harvesters and simple reactors. Preliminary details on the...

Last week I looked at EVE Online's upcoming Rubicon expansion, which aims to kick off CCP's long-term vision of deep space exploration with a series of new deployable structures. Until now, most structures have come in the form of modules that can only be added to starbases anchored at moons. Starb...

Back in April, EVE Online Senior Producer Andie Nordgren delivered an incredible long-term vision for the game's future that included deep space colonisation, player-built stargates, and players controlling practically everything that's currently run by NPC empires. This vision sets the tone and di...

Find My iPhone in iOS 6 was great for locating your lost or stolen phone and for locking down your data, but it had a major flaw. A tech-savvy thief could restore the phone, remove the SIM card and walk away scot-free with your phone. Thanks to an enhancement to Find My iPhone called Activation Lo...

Prosecutors in New York and San Francisco have given Apple's new iOS 7 software some high praise, all thanks to a simple security measure. District Attorney George Gascón (SF) and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (NY), both part of the "Secure Our Smartphones Coalition," are "strongly urg...

By now we've heard several stories about how Find My iPhone has allowed someone to recover a stolen iPhone, iPad or Mac. Today, that story gets a new twist because the app was instrumental in helping police track down a stolen car with a 5-year-old child inside.
As reported by ABC, a father's SUV w...

The latest development on the recent HTC saga reveals that Thomas Chien, the arrested ex-VP of Product Design, was possibly lured by the Chengdu municipal government to set up a phone company in China. According to Taiwan's Next Magazine (pictured above by sister publication Apple Daily), Chien fl...

In Australia, where gold farming is perfectly legal (and income from such must even be filed on your tax return), Katrina Fincham had managed to earn $75,000 by farming and selling gold in World of Warcraft. As we know from farming our own gold, grinding for in-game cash takes time and effort, and ...

The Attorney General of New York and District Attorney of San Francisco are teaming up with police and government groups to cut down on smartphone-related muggings. George Gascón (SF) and Eric Schneiderman (NY) will announce "Save our Smartphones" at a summit in New York later today, after ...

Apple devices keep their value, which makes them an attractive target for thieves. Two recent stories highlight how both individuals and Apple stores are vulnerable to theft. One report involves a movie-like high-speed chase, while the other one features a well-timed smash-and-grab heist.
The New...

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